After a rocky start to its SEC schedule, Ole Miss finally has a little bit of momentum going.

The Rebels (5-2, 1-2 SEC) can keep it going against reeling Auburn (4-3, 1-3) when the two teams meet at noon ET on Saturday in Oxford. Ole Miss is coming off a wild 37-33 win against Arkansas, its first league winning following blowout losses against No. 1 Alabama and No. 5 LSU.

“Moving forward to Auburn, just excited to be back at home 5-2 with some momentum going,” Rebels coach Matt Luke said during his press conference Monday. “I know our crowd will be great playing against a very good Auburn team, one of the best front sevens in the country. They’re very good up front, long in the secondary.

“Offensively, they have always been really good at running the football, so we’ll have to do a great job at stopping the run and stopping their play-action shots, so obviously, it’ll be a big challenge but excited to be back home in front of our home crowd.”

Here’s what else Luke had to say about Auburn, which is coming off back-to-back SEC losses:

On the importance of this game against Auburn:

  • “It’s big. You have an open date after this, so it’s very important that we do battle through all the injuries, everybody steps up and we close ranks and keep marching forward and find a way to be 1-0 this week going into the open date. We’ll go out, we’ll have a great week of practice, and it’s going to be a great atmosphere. It’s an early kick. But any time you have an SEC game in Oxford, I know our fans will show up and it’ll be a great atmosphere.”

On Auburn’s front seven:

  • “They’re big and fast. They’re very good. They have experienced linebackers. They’re big, they’re twitchy. They stop the run. They rush the passer. You have to be opportunistic. When the plays are there, you have to make them. You have to be patient in the run game. Even though you might only be getting two or three yards, you have to keep giving the body punches and keep them off balance. You can’t play on your heels against them, they’re too good.”

On the Auburn rushing offense:

  • “I do think they are good at running back. JaTarvious Whitlow is a very physical runner. He’s really good. Very impressed with him. Then they have Malik Miller and Kam Martin behind him. I do think they’re good. They’re going to come in here and run the football. That’s what they’re going to do. They’re going to get back to basics. They’re going to come in here and run the football and then throw play actions. We’re going to have our work cut out for us. We’re going to have to do a good job of stopping the run, then them taking their shots deep. They have some receivers who can really run and make plays down the field.”